Would global warming be so bad?

In this undated file photo released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a sow polar bear rests with her cubs on pack ice in the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska. Polar bear populations have been pushing south as the North Pole ice pac softens due to global climate change. Blogger Stefan Karlsson asks: is that so bad?

What has always troubled me the most with the view that we needs to stop "climate change" in the form of "global warming" is the idea that it would be bad if the Earth became warmer.

Sure, that could be negative in some areas for some reasons, but it would also be beneficial in other areas for other reasons. Suppose for example that Antarctica
, or at least parts of it, would become habitable due to a warmer climate, wouldn't that be a good thing that could possibly outweigh possible problems elsewhere?

So what is there to say that the pre-industrial era climate is really the optimal climate? That the benefits of a possible warmer climates wouldn't outweigh the disadvantages? I have asked that many times to Al Gore
supporters and either gotten no answer at all, or some list of alleged (and exaggerated) disadvantages that completely overlooked the benefits.

Note that some "climate change" theories argue that "global warming" could lead to colder weather in for example northern Europe
. But even assuming that this is really true, it begs the question of why colder weather is bad there but good everywhere else. And this cold weather will largelly undo the initial warming effect, leaving us with little to worry about, assuming "global warming" is bad.

-----------------------------

The Christian Science Monitor
has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here
. This post originally ran on stefanmikarlsson.blogspot.com
.